I Don't Hate You
by Monochrome Insanity
Summary: Rima's "confession" to Nagihiko ends unexpectedly. Oneshot.


**I own nothing (because I'm sure you thought I was Peach-Pit).**

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><p>Fujisaki Nagihiko's hand was holding the classroom doorway as he entered when he felt a sharp tug on his sleeve just above the elbow.<p>

Turning around, his eyes almost missed the mass of golden curls at the bottom of his vision that was Mashiro Rima. He stepped away from the door immediately, ignoring the impending bell that would ring in the new period, knowing that whatever the chibi devil had to say would require his full attention whether he wanted it to or not. After securing himself a position outside of the flow of students streaming into classroom, he looked down and asked plainly, "What?"

The blonde in question raised her chin a bit in pride (or maybe for the illusion of height) and gave a little 'hmmph,' as though Nagihiko was the one bothering her. Her golden eyes gazed into his with a prickly glare, something that would instill fear within every student in their school except Fujisaki, who had become well-acquainted with being on the receiving end of the high school Ice Queen's glares. "Skip class with me," she ordered bluntly, becoming a tad shy halfway through her sentence. "I have something to tell you." Her glare softened, as the topic seemed to dull her anger.

"That'd be nice," Nagihiko said teasingly, "but unlike you, I have good grades to keep up and can't just skip class randomly." Instantly he knew that trying to resume their playful banter was the wrong decision. She reacted by lowering her head and averting her gaze, accompanied by a mumbled, "Oh." Whatever she had to say, it was serious enough that she had abandoned an opportunity to start an argument with the boy that she constantly referred to as her arch nemesis.

Regaining composure, Rima straightened up and looked back into his eyes. "Whatever, idiot." she said with the utmost of disdain in her voice, "it's not like it was that important anyway."

Of course, after years of knowing her - alongside a multitude of acting classes - Nagihiko was skilled enough to know when she covering something; besides, she had piqued his interest. "No, no," he said quickly, no wanting to miss whatever it was she had to say, "I'll go."

Being forever the stubborn girl she was, Rima couldn't just except a victory that seemed to be from pity. She turned her nose up at him like a French poodle (well, as much as she could with her short statue) and said, "No, you _obviously_ have more important matters at hand. How _dare_ I try and get between you and calculus." At that, she turned on her heel and began to strut away.

As she stalked off, he reached out and caught her hand, using her own momentum to turn her around to face him. Her sarcasm had hit a nerve, but Nagihiko bit back a retort and replied as sweetly as possibly, "But I really want to know what you had to say."

He looked down at her innocently, and she immediately blushed, embarrassed by either his genuine earnestness or his hand in hers. Either way, she looked down and muttered with an angry edge in her voice, "Fine, do what you want." At this he beamed down at her with closed eyes, succeeded in deepening the red on the short girl's cheeks.

Directly following the end of their argument, the bell rang throughout the school, echoing off the walls and giving both the students a start. As though the sound had alerted her again, Rima suddenly yanked her hand from Nagihiko's, shaking it off a bit as she walked away, gesturing for him to follow. He obediently walked behind her for the entire length of the hallway before she turned a corner and he finally asked what was on his mind.

"Where exactly are you planning on going?" he said, not particularly worried, just knowing that there weren't a lot of random places to talk in private when classes were in session. She stopped abruptly and Nagihiko almost ran right into her back. After regaining balance, he straightened up and Rima turned around to face him. Her glare returned, meeting his gaze with steel. Following about ten seconds of neither one blinking, she finally decided to answer his initial question.

She turned her back to him, putting her arms out in a position that clearly said, 'it's obvious, when you think about it.' "Well," she began, "I was thinking the girl's bathroom," Nagihiko felt a distinct hotness flood his cheeks, "but I figure if we got caught, your uniform would give you away."

His slight embarrassment quickly turning to annoyance, Nagihiko sped up to walk beside her. Leaning down, he looked at her face and asked sarcastically, 'And that was the_ only _problem you found with the plan? My_ uniform_?"

With a soft chuckle, Rima looked away and replied mockingly, "Listen, it's not my fault that you're in sophomore year, and you can still pass for a girl. Hey, but don't despair," she put a gracefully small hand on his shoulder, "puberty has to hit you eventually." With a smirk on her face and a toss of her hair, she once again took her lead. Behind her, Nagihiko seethed, taking wonder, for a second, in the fact that somehow in the past years they had become close friends while managing to maintain their rivalry.

"You still didn't answer my question," he stated, letting the insult slide off. "Do you even have an idea?"

"But of course," she replied airily in a combination between indignant and prideful. "Now shut up, it's right around the corner."

The mystery location was an abandoned teacher's lounge in the freshmen hallway. All the teachers that used it had a class during this period spare one. Rima had done her research, though, because that teacher - a Mr. Minagawa - went outside to smoke during his free period. Hence why Rima and Nagihiko now stood alone in the teacher's lounge, a realm previously considered forbidden.

One wall had a long horizontal window that spanned its entire length and looked out onto the staff parking lot. The rest were covered with various things, including tables stacked with papers, a reclining arm chair, and a vending machine. Seeing as the room only contained one seat, the teenagers took their place on the floor, Rima with her back to the window wall and Nagihiko with his to the door.

"Alright then," Nagihiko said after a few seconds of idle chit chat relating to the vending machine, "what was it you wanted to say?" His uncharacteristic bluntness took Rima by surprise and she suddenly looked away with a blush growing more prominent by the second.

"Well, I guess I should get straight to the point," she stated shyly, and while her words were normal for her, Nagihiko could tell that she was nervous by the way her words trailed off at the end.

"Okay!" She looked up and straightened her back, regaining her confidence. "See, the thing is... toward you, I... er, that is... what I mean to say is..." she continued, her failed starts getting softer and softer as she lost her guts. She glared tentatively down at her kneeling legs showing from underneath her skirt, playing with the hem anxiously. Her eyes refused to meet his, and he cocked his head to the side, his eyes full of concern. He longed to interrupt her painful attempts to speak, but he knew whatever she had to say, she had to find the courage for herself.

With a 'hmmph,' she pushed her shoulders back while still refusing to take her eyes off a lamp in the corner. Forcing the words out almost painfully, she gasped the single sentence out all at once, her eyes closed with concentration.

"I don't hate you!" Rima practically shouted almost breathlessly, her stern voice echoing in the empty hallways outside the room. The quiet air hung even more silent than it had before, as everything stopped, including her heart beat. She immediately felt regret for the sudden words out of her mouth - she had sounded too angry, too forced, while she had meant to actually be friendly for once. Her face flushed deeper and deeper red until she plucked up the courage to glance at Nagihiko for his reaction.

He sat on his knees, his mouth open and eyes glazed as he tried to process her surprising confession. Suddenly more embarrassed by his shock, she averted her gaze again, adding, "_All _the time." She snuck another quiet glance, only to find his face in the same state. More than slightly annoyed, she closed her eyes and raised her chin, saying, "Hey, idiot! What's the stupid face fo - "

But she never finished her sentence, because halfway through, Nagihiko had come out of his trance and, with speed of both a dancer and a basketball player, slid down to Rima and placed his lips on hers.

It wasn't the fact that she didn't hate him - that he already knew - it was that she had said it aloud. Over years of hiding emotions from her parents due to their fighting _and_ the entire student body in order to keep up a facade, true feelings were hard to come by in Mashiro Rima. At least ones that she admitted to. The fact that she had let her icy mask slip just to reassure him made him smile, and so he had sneaked a kiss out of her when her eyes were closed.

At first, it was awkward, for her mouth had been open and ready with words on her tongue, so when his lips touched hers, they slipped a bit uncomfortably. The momentum of his body leaning forward toward hers, even as he tried his best to be gentle, was enough to make the tiniest clink of teeth, so it took a few seconds of delay for his mouth to find a cozy niche in hers. Rima, at first, was reluctant to allow a foreign mouth to touch her own, whether it was because it was her first kiss or because it was Nagihik - either way, she quickly gave in. She moved her hands off of her lap to support herself as she leaned backward, allowed Nagihiko a more comfortable position to kiss her. Taking her movement as acceptance, Nagihiko moved a bit closer, shifting his weight onto his knees and putting his hands on either side of her legs. He felt a bit shy, as he had kissed her on impulse and the second she seemed to kiss back he had wanted to back off. He wasn't accustomed to things like this, but nevertheless, he allowed his mouth to continue exploring hers.

Both were not experienced kissers and began timidly, without any movement, but they both quickly succumb to hormones and allowed themselves a little fun. Their lips continuously parted and joined, twisting around and in and out of each other's as though they wished to become adjoined. Their breaths were short and shallow, only short breaks from the main event.

After a few minutes, Rima's arms began to wobble, so she stretched her legs and parted them, tapping Nagihiko's sides in an attempt to signal him to change position. Somehow he got the message, and they managed to move to the wall behind Rima without their lips parting for more than a few milliseconds. Her back was pressed against the wall, and Nagihiko placed his right hand on the wall, while his left stayed on the ground next to her. With a stable service behind her, Nagihiko felt free to press harder, but the second she felt him gain ground on her, Rima put more force into her lips, shoving them ever harder onto him; her pride wouldn't allow him to take lead over her, whether or not he was the boy. Of course, Nagihiko was ever polite, but his will stayed persistent, and as she challenged his lips for dominance, he made no move to back off. If Temari had taught him nothing else, she gave him determination, and he wasn't about to cower away so easily.

Their lips battled each other more colorfully than Rima and Nagihiko ever did, and Rima even pushed Nagihiko off once, back to where his weight was shifted away from her. Of course, he had gotten back at her, her back grinding into the wall.

After long, excruciatingly wonderful minutes passed, Nagihiko blinked his golden eyes open and allowed his lips to leave her. Rima, who was pushed her mouth hard against his at the time, fell forward a bit. She almost landed on his chest until he caught her shoulders and straightened her out. She looked up at him, her mouth open, for once without a single insult to hurl at him. Her breath came in short pants, making it impossible for her to get any words out, even if she hadn't been stunned speechless. Silently, she yearned for him to kiss her again.

As if reading her thoughts, Nagihiko leaned forward, his face moving toward hers. His similarly panting lips barely brushed her cheek, though, as he moved his mouth to the right of her head, leaning his weight on one hand. For a second he remained there, catching his breath, as she held back giggles from his warm, ticklish breath on her neck. After a short wait, he leaned in closer, his mouth so near her ear that his chin brushed her star-shaped earrings, and opened his lips to whisper to her with a smirk:

"I don't hate you, too."

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><p><strong>So... derp.<strong>

**Uh, review and all, tell me if I screwed up too badly. It's my first time using this site, and it kind of confuses the hell out of me. Also, it's my first fanfiction at all... **

**DFTBA.**


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